Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Wine Wednesdays - Wine and Food at Semilla Brooklyn

I've been meaning to share the epic tasting menu dinner Mom and I enjoyed at Semilla during our Brooklyn staycation. The restaurant is the brainchild of Jose Ramirez-Ruiz and began as a temporary pop-up before turning in to a full time restaurant. They offer 2 seatings per night, limited to 18 guests seated around their U-shaped central bar. It was so fun to simply show up and leave the work in their very capable hands, no menu to pour over, no decisions to be made.

Except for the wine, but turns out that decision was relatively easy. The somm helped us choose a lovely Chardonnay from the Saint-Veran appellation in Burgundy. Denis Jeandeau is the 5th generation winemaker in his family; cultivating the family estate with a passion for organic and biodynamic farming, hand harvesting, and natural fermentation. Wines are aged in neutral oak, fully allowing the true expression of the terroir and grape shine through.

The wine was right up our ally, and was a perfect pairing with each incredible dish.

Dinners at Semilla are vegetable focused, but you would hardly know it based on the intricate layers and thoughtfulness that go in to each dish, I didn't even miss the meat. You'd think 10+ courses could be come a bit much, but each course was light enough and just the right bite to prevent getting overly stuffed. What accounted for getting overly stuffed was the amazing bread that is served with the meal, hot out of the oven with a side of salted butter in a tiny pool of creamy, sour buttermilk. It's just as good as every restaurant review calls it out to be!

Below is a plate by plate photo-documentation of our meal, excuse the poor lighting and iphone photos!